


Japanese Zombie Heroez

by cadkitten



Category: Dir en grey
Genre: Alternate Universe - Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, Anal Sex, Angst, Apocalypse, Blood, Bombs, Community: Apocabigbang, Death, Drug Use, Explicit Language, F/M, Fanart, Fanfiction, Gore, Japan, M/M, Multi, Original Character(s), Suicide, Voyeurism, Zombies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-04-20
Updated: 2011-04-20
Packaged: 2017-12-05 13:24:54
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 10,010
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/723777
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cadkitten/pseuds/cadkitten
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's been fourteen days since the outbreak started. Fourteen long and agonizing days in which I have witnessed more death and destruction than I have even seen in the depths of my own mind. Fourteen days since I've been absolutely certain that I will die - that we will all die - and not by my own hand. It's been two entire weeks since I've been running for my life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Phantom Killer (Kyo's Chapter)

**Author's Note:**

> For [](http://apocabigbang.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://apocabigbang.livejournal.com/)**apocabigbang**. 10,000 words or more. Your story has to revolve around the end of the world.  
>  Beta Readers: gothic_hime

**~Hageshisa to, Kono Mune no Naka de Karamitsuita Shakunetsu no Yami ~**

It's been fourteen days since the outbreak started. Fourteen long and agonizing days in which I have witnessed more death and destruction than I have even seen in the depths of my own mind. Fourteen days since I've been absolutely certain that I will die - that we will all die - and not by my own hand. It's been two entire weeks since I've been running for my life.

What exactly am I running from? As absurd as it may sound, we're running from zombies. Yeah... you read that right. Zombies. Flesh-eating, brain-munching, dull-eyed, slow-moving _zombies_. Yeah, I know. Crazy. Who'd have thought?

According to the last newscasts from around the world, it started with a single person in Tokyo and spread like the plague it is. From what we've been able to determine it's probably a virus of some sort, spread through the saliva, blood, feces, and urine of the infected. Rather like any other virus transmitted in such a manner, any contact with eyes, mouth, or blood will lead to infection. And infection rate is 100%. So far there are no known cases of lack of infection after contact.

My first thoughts in the few days after I had found a place to hole myself up with a few other survivors was that there was no way I was living in such a cliché. But apparently I was far from wrong with that. Everything we've ever been taught about zombies from the movies seems to work. You harm them in the torso or limbs and they keep on coming, but chop off the head or shoot them in the brain and presto... magical twitching, dying zombie on the ground. Bites mean instant infection: within a few seconds you're transformed into one of them if you're lucky enough to not be completely consumed by them. Or maybe... you're lucky if you're just food and not turned into this walking freak of nature. Yeah... maybe that's the better way to look at it. But, anyway, there's a gap with any other method of infection. You have maybe twenty-four hours before you're turning. Any fluids in the slightest cut or in your mouth or eyes and you're fucked. I tend to think those the most saddening of them all because everyone has to watch and you know you're going to die.

From all of this I have found that my brain had already planned for the end to come in such a manner. While everyone else has panicked, had their share of sitting in a corner rocking back and forth and crying their eyes out, I've had my moments of peace and humility. I haven't shed a tear, not even knowing my own parents are in the midst of all of this, probably dead. It's not that I'm not sad, because I am. I just know it can't be changed and I have accepted it... I accepted it the moment Inoue turned on us in the studio and it really sank in the moment I fired my first shot into another human being's skull. Tears would only hinder my survival and the survival of those around me.

Today is the first day it's rained since it all started. The sky is pouring buckets down on those left outside. For whatever reason the zombies have taken to the inside during the rain and those of us who have survived this far are left to rush through the rain towards a destination that even we don't know or understand. There's nowhere left to go, only aimless wandering and the attempt to outlive the rest of the food supply and pray that once it's all gone, the infected will cease to exist. Or at least that's how I'm going about it; otherwise there would be no force in this world strong enough to stop me from leveling my 9mm at my own head and pulling the trigger.

Last night, I watched one of the others in my group leave the room and never come back. The look in his eyes... I know where he went and I know why once Kaoru went in that room, he shut the door and 'accidentally' locked it behind himself. It was no accident, but the little girl with us didn't need to see where her father went. Her name is Chloe and she's 9 years old, with what started out as bright blonde pigtails. Now they're filled with matted blood and hang low on the sides of her head. She won't let anyone touch them because 'that's mommy's job' and the poor girl has no idea mommy won't be coming back. Daddy had to kill mommy and while she understands death, her father was kind enough to keep such a thing from her.

The things we see here... the way we have to survive, it's not fair to a child of such an age. But I can hardly do anything about it. She's the only female in our group and the only one we've run into this far that's still amongst the living. And so, day-by-day, we watch her grow harder and colder, repress more and more, and I know one day it'll be too much pressure to put on a child. The fact that she's already carrying her father's Beretta and has used it twice today should be evidence enough that she's being forced to grow up too fast. But there's no helping it. It's grow up or die. And she chose not to die.

We're on our way down Takeshita Street, the golden arches of McDonald's coming up on the left when I hear it. I freeze, my body stiffening for a split second before I shove Chloe and Die down on the pavement. A bullet wizzes past our heads and lodges itself smack in the middle of the blood-smeared sign telling us today's special is fish sandwiches. The vague thought wanders past if there's any food left in there and then I realize that's probably why we're being shot at. Another shot gets fired off and I roll up into a crouch, taking stock of my surroundings and fire through a slit in the upper window over the green canopy of the store front on our right. Someone screams and the window slams shut.

Immediately, I'm on the run, Chloe on one side of me and Die on the other, the rest of our party scattered further up the street, already running. We know the sound of gunshots and screaming will attract the undead to our position. So much for the McDonald's. As we round the bend in the street we find ourselves confronted with a literal mob of lingering zombies. The one I set my sights on first has his left eyeball hanging out of the socket and every few seconds he takes a snap at it as it slowly pendulums in front of his mouth. I squeeze the trigger and he goes down, another zombie descending on him just as quickly as he hits the pavement.

Beside me, Chloe squeezes off four shots, three more of the infected dropping. For each one down, we lose another one or two who decide this is a good enough feast and they don't need us just yet. Die pumps his shotgun and the resulting blast takes off the head of one and fells another right behind him. He's always good with his double aim. I tap out another two before Kaoru makes the call to skirt the sidewalk and make a run for it. He lets out a whistle and we all rush after him. My handgun goes in the waistband of my jeans and I pull out my Barracuda from my hip pocket. Flicking it open, I'm somehow glad I took those classes in self-defense all those years ago. Two more are wounded and one drops, my knife severing enough of the spinal cord when I stab into the back of his neck that he ends up flopping on the ground.

Two blocks down we finally stop, panting for breath, Chloe clutching her side while she tries to get her breath. Die and I reload and Kaoru starts tossing out medical grade wet-wipes to get the blood off our hands. I tuck mine into my pocket and use the rainwater pouring from the drain off the side of a building to rinse. With that done, I use the wipe over the rest of my hands and arms and carefully check for cuts. Nothing. Sometimes I regret not keeping my leather gloves, but at the time food seemed more important.

Spitting in the gutter, I make a face and wipe my blade off, tossing the wipe into an overflowing trash barrel. The city reeks of garbage and death and there's not a damn thing that can be done about it. Lightning flashes in the sky and we all look upwards for a long moment before we start onward again.

About half an hour later, we find ourselves holed up in a convenience stand eating candy bars and drinking warm soda. It'll give us all a severe sugar rush, but at this point we have no real choice. Every other place we've found anything remotely food-like someone is already guarding it and we're still unwilling to kill off more of the living in order to survive. Maybe our group is behind the game, but without some civility left, where would we be? Fighting amongst ourselves and harming the innocent. My own lyrics float through my head and I can't stop myself from snatching up the extra three candy bars from under the counter, stuffing it into the Hello Kitty backpack I'm carrying for Chloe.

The sound of the rain outside ceases and immediately I'm on my feet. "We need to go." No one asks why. Candy bars are stuffed in hungry mouths and sodas chugged, the cans left scattered on the dirty ground. Moments later, we're all out the door, on the run again. This is the other side of death; living life on the run from what was once humanity. Seeing the familiar faces and not even hesitating to cut them down where they stand. Turning your gun on the infected man beside you and pulling the trigger. Watching as everyone around you slowly finds this un-death. Repeating again and again... this is the unwavering fact of tomorrow.


	2. Relentless Red (Die's Chapter)

**~Lie Buried with a Vengeance~**

Today is just like yesterday and the day before and the day before that. There's something to be said for consistency and a schedule, but I long for the old one. I want the days of recording songs and touring back. Granted, it's only been nineteen days since the outbreak, but I feel like it's been years. I've watched some of my closest friends come into harm's way, over and over. I've watched three of the people I care about most in this world die. And today I made my one hundredth kill. I've never been a man to harm a single thing, not even a spider or a cockroach, even though I am terrified of both. Though, I have to admit, I'm less afraid of them now that I'm faced with the threat of a zombie trying to eat my face off. Plus cockroaches mean food is nearby and since they won't eat the flesh of the zombie's, then we know it's probably edible if they're near it.

Who would have thought that the first person I'd have to kill would be my very own guitar tech, Kuroo? Every time I think about it, my heart slams in my chest and my stomach rolls. I didn't want to, but I watched when Kyo shot Inoue down cold, and it was all I could think to do. We didn't want to end up as one of the undead, so we did what we had to. And now... we continue to do just that.

Today has been a hell of a goddamn day. We tried to find more food and we kept running into people shooting at us instead, even knowing we're not infected. It's apparent that crime without reason does exist, even in the midst of all of this. Or maybe there is still a reason... they want to be the ones to survive regardless of what happens to us. But I find it unfair and if they look at it, they're idiotic. The more of us there are, the better the chances we'll be able to repopulate if this ever ends. But they don't understand and it's not like I can stand in the middle of the street and scream it at them. Instead, we make a run for it and pray.

Once we finally found food, we were on the outskirts, making our way through barricades the police had seen fit to set up when it all started. It was kind of sad to see the corpses lying on the ground, the navy blue uniforms so obvious. Riot uniforms. It's almost laughable at the same time though, thinking riot police would stop the zombies from spreading. And then the thought that they were just going to let us all die clouded my mind and I started to realize that part of these men are dead from bullet wounds to the chest and abdomen, but had no other sign of trauma. So others were fleeing for their lives and took them down; it's the only logical explanation. It gave me a little hope that we'd find some other survivors somewhere.

By the time nightfall comes, we're all tucked away in a little home on the top of a hill, every door locked and every window barred up. There are some cans of soup and we're eating them cold, passing them around the circle after two bites. To my left is Kyo and to his left is Chloe, the little girl whose father killed himself about a week ago. To my right is Kaoru and past him there's Toshiya and Shinya and George, Shinya's drum tech. And in the far corner, tucked away from all the rest of us are two teenagers, a couple. They won't give us their names, tell us it's unimportant. But they were here when we came up to investigate and they're the first people who haven't shot at us when we come within range.

Chloe slinks off toward one of the corners and curls up in the blankets we found in the house. It's not long before we start to hear her snoring lightly. Kyo gives her a glance and then looks back at the can of chicken noodle soup in his hand. He's never liked chicken noodle... but he's eating it now without complaint. When he tries to pass it off to me, I shake my head and tell him to have my two bites of it. He gives me a funny look, but takes one of them anyway before handing it over to me. "Eat one bite."

I do as I'm told and then pass it to Kaoru and he finishes the can. Two cans of soup are consumed and twelve more are distributed amongst us to keep in our sacks along with spoons. We won't be staying here long, it's too dangerous to stay in one place, but the couple doesn't seem to want to leave, so we'll leave them with most of the food on the shelves, hoping we're not making a mistake. Kyo gets up and motions to me to follow him. We don't go anywhere alone and it's obvious he's heading to the bathroom.

Silently, we move through the house, both of us with our weapons ready just in case we missed something in our rounds of the home earlier. He slips into the bathroom and nudges the curtain to the tub open. Nothing. I slip inside and shut the door, leaning against it while he sees if there's water in the tank and debates. I remind him the water wasn't turned off yet and he tests the sink with the cup next to it under it. Water comes out and he drinks half and hands me the rest before removing his pants and sitting on the toilet, his head in his hands. This is the closest I've seen to him breaking and once the water is in me, I can't help but lock the door and go to kneel in front of him, wrapping my arms around him. He hugs me back and his arms are shaky. "So tired," he murmurs in my ear.

"I know... tell you what. We'll clean up a little bit and then we'll go take a nap." The implication is that I'll stay with him. He gives a little nod. "Shifts?" I give him a nod of confirmation and he sighs, letting go of me and shooing me off so he can finish his business. He guards the door for me while I do the same and flush the toilet. We wet two washcloths and strip down, quickly washing ourselves off, careful not to get anything remotely near our eyes, nose, mouths, ears, or genitals. He pulls out an extra antibacterial wipe and uses it to wipe around his face and then down below. He tosses me a second one after he's done and carefully starts pulling clothing back on, checking it for contamination along the way. I finish up and do the same, both of us completely done in less than ten minutes.

Carefully, we move out of the bathroom, weapons at the ready again and return to the living room, informing people that we're going to go to sleep. Kaoru tells us to take the master bedroom and we do without argument, wandering off to the bed and sinking into it, leaving our hoodies off to the side, looped through our packs. The door is closed and locked just in case someone turns during the night. Curling up on the bed, we don't even hesitate to slip closer to one another for comfort and warmth. Kyo buries his nose against my neck, one leg draped over mine, leaving his crotch pressed against my thigh. My arms slip around his torso and I keep him close as I go over any kind of plan I can think of for tomorrow to keep myself awake. It's only a few minutes before his breathing evens out and he goes almost completely limp in my arms.

In the room next to ours I can hear the quiet and methodical creak of the bedsprings and vaguely I wonder who it is, my eyes on the wall like it can tell me. The sound gets quicker and I can feel myself becoming aroused by the mere the thought of what's going on. By the time the creaking tops out and then stops, I'm rock hard in my pants, my dick straining hard against the material. It's been so long since I've even thought of sex and now it's the only thing boiling around in my brain, all plans for tomorrow gone.

Kyo shifts a little in his sleep and my breath hitches as his thigh presses against my hard-on. My hips arch a tiny bit before I realize what I'm doing and I have to stop myself. Now is really not the time to be outing myself. Then again... is there ever a good time? I let out a rough sigh and decide I'll just tell Kyo the truth if I accidentally wake him up. I check my watch and see I have ten minutes left of my shift before I should wake him up and go to sleep. Fine... in ten minutes, I'll wake him up and he can decide how he's going to deal with me jerking off in the same room he's occupying.

I count the minutes until it's finally time and then I slide one arm back to gently shake him. He kind of jerks out of sleep and stares at me, scared for a moment before he calms down and pushes himself up on one arm. "My turn?" I nod and he starts to move, his thigh sliding over my crotch in the process, causing both of us to gasp and freeze. He stares at me for a long moment and then settles back on his knees. "Horny?"

Blushing, I give him a single bob of my head and then gesture at the other room. "Someone was having sex while you were asleep." He looks surprised and then chuckles. "Wonder who." I shrug and he raises his hands over his head and links them, stretching and wriggling a little, something he has no idea is so incredibly sexy. "Wanna take care of yourself?" Again, I nod a little, sliding into a sitting position against the headboard and blinking at him.

He shrugs a bit and then glances around. He won't look at me while he speaks this time, but his voice is still clear to my ears, though low enough even someone right outside the door wouldn't be able to hear. "You know... we saw each other naked already... and well..." his hand comes up to run through his hair, tugging lightly, "it's lonely."

It takes me a minute to get what he's implying. Once I get it though, I don't bother trying to delve deeper. Deeper doesn't matter. I reach out and hook my fingers through his belt-loops, pulling him forward. He comes to straddle my lap willingly, his hands on my shoulders while he waits. I open his pants and then push them down along with his boxers, revealing that he's already starting to get hard. My fingers wrap around his dick and I begin to stroke him, eager to feel everything he has to offer. I've wanted this for a long time and now he's mine. At least when I die... I'll die fulfilled.

For a minute, he just lets me jerk him off before he gently pushes my hand away and he starts to get my clothing undone, his palm running over my straining erection inside my pants. His mouth comes to press against my ear and he breathes into it, "Wanna fuck?"

I do, but I don't have anything to use as lube and an open wound is inviting infection from the zombies, no matter where it is. "No lube," I mutter out. He shrugs and pulls away after he has my pants undone, getting up and leaving his pants on the floor while he fishes around in his bag. He comes back with a little box of condoms. "Took them from the convenience store the first week. Joke at the time..." but not so much now, I supposed was what he meant. I looked at the box and read that they were super lubricated and came with a sample of some new warming lubricant.

Immediately, I strip my pants off, pushing them onto the floor and scooting down so I'm lying on my back, a pillow under my lower back and my legs spread. He pushes my shirt up, running his fingers over my nipples as he hands me the box to get the needed items out. I fumble around and get a condom and the little sample of lube out of the box. The lube comes in a tiny tube that will last us maybe three uses if we're careful. The thought that we could fuck again makes me even more aroused and the moment he touches my dick, I think I'm going to shoot my load all over him, but I don't. My hips jerk and he chuckles low. "So eager."

I just let out a tiny moan and then push the now opened lube into his hand before I reach down and put the condom on his dick, rolling it over that thick shaft and imagining how it's going to feel inside me. I let out another moan as his fingertips touch my entrance, rubbing and then sinking in. I fall back against the bed and arch up with a little whine of approval. Two fingers work in and out of me for a good few minutes before he adds a third as carefully as he can. He pulls his fingers out and coats his dick with a little more lube, capping it and tossing it next to the condoms before he moves to press his dick against me. "Fuck," he lets out just before he starts to push, slowly sinking into my body.

Once he's fully inside, I wrap my legs around his hips and tug him down against me, my arms clinging tight to him. I want to feel all of this. He starts to rock his hips, his breath hot against my neck. I can hear his little sounds of pleasure, the little pants of pure bliss. I let out a tiny sound that's a little louder than I intend it to be and he moves to catch my mouth with his own, his tongue snaking into my mouth and searching out my slick muscle. The rock of his hips gets faster and I can feel the way his muscles start to tense, his arousal more intense. My own dick is leaving a smear of pre-cum over his abdomen and I know if he hits my prostate I'm going to cum harder than I ever have before.

He pauses to change positions, his thighs coming to tuck up under me more, his back arched to keep the kiss going while he stabs into me, his thrusts harder but slower. He's aiming for power and the intensity of it is purely amazing. More sounds fall from my lips into his mouth and he returns them with a few of his own. Another snap and a slightly different angle and I'm seeing stars, my body tense and shaking. He has to have been searching because he doesn't stop abusing the new angle, his hips now snapping fast and hard into me. With a cry I can't contain at all, I cum, spurting out between us in wave after wave of utter bliss. I'm barely coming down when he slams in hard and stills, pulling back from the kiss to let out a relieved sounding moan as he twitches inside me, filling the condom with his hot release.

A few moments later, he pulls out and carefully discards the condom, moving to get another wet-wipe and clean us both up. We both get dressed and I half expect him to regret what we've just done. But he just crawls back in bed next to me, curling up at my side and murmuring for me to go to sleep.

When I finally do, the dreams that take me are kind and pleasant... dreams of a better life where we can be together and live until we're old and grey. Has my heart gone mad?


	3. Badass King (Kaoru's Chapter)

**~Red Soil: Bonus Version~**

Twenty seven days. Twenty seven days of hatred and ugliness, of death and decay, of virus and infection. It's been far too long and still we encounter the zombies at every single turn of the road. We've been outside Tokyo for eight days now, wandering through the outskirts. Our food is running low and I can see that part of our group is running out of hope. There's two new people with us, oddly some people we know. One is Shinya's female cousin and the other is her boyfriend. They brought first aid supplies, hand warmers, and supplies to make a fire. But they didn't bring food and so far we've been unsuccessful in finding any. I can't help but keep thinking to myself that if only we had run into an uninfected street person that we'd have better luck in scrounging the needed supplies from unlikely places. But we have no such luck and now we have eight mouths to feed.

We've found a couple of places we keep migrating between, unsure what else to do. It's like the life of an unsure nomad. Do I go east or west? Maybe north. And in the end, we know it doesn't matter at all. There's too much danger in the open and just as much of it lurking in everywhere we try to hide. Die doesn't look good, he's taken on a greyish color the past week and when he doesn't think we're paying attention, he's been coughing until he throws up. Kyo doesn't look much better, but I'm not blind and I know it's because he's worried about Die. He watches him like a hawk, never letting anything slip past him and when we find food, he tries so hard to make Die eat it first.

For the first time in eight days, I regret leaving the heart of Tokyo. If we were there, we could go find a pharmacy and give Die some kind of antibiotic. I'm sure it's just a lung infection and I'm terrified of losing him to something so small right now.

I'm standing here on the top of the hill, surveying which way we should go today. The wind blows through my hair and forces our scent back down toward Tokyo. Sighing, I turn to the others and take in the fact that Die's barely leaning on Kyo and looks half asleep on his feet. His breathing is shallow and rattling. If we don't stop to take care of him, he'll be the next to die, one way or another, of that I'm certain. Looking away, I make my decision with one final glance at the buildings in the distance. "Kyo, Die, Chloe... you three stay here. Board up the doors and don't leave for anything. Everyone else is with me. We'll be back by nightfall. If we're not, tomorrow you move to the yellow house west of here. Understood?"

Kyo opens his mouth to speak, but I cut him off with a raised hand. "We're going after food and medication. We were fool to leave without any and I realize that now." Letting my hand drop, I nod toward the house. "Get inside." They all do as they're told; Die trailing behind the rest, his eyes sad, one arm wrapped around his stomach. "I'm sorry," he offers to me and I just shake my head, wrapping my arms around him and hugging him tight for a moment. "I don't want to lose you, Daisuke. None of us do. We'll bring you antibiotics and some cough syrup if we can find it." He shrugs off his backpack and slips inside to dump it before handing it out to me. "Whoever can carry two... it should help."

I give them all one last look and then turn away as the door squeaks closed. I can hear them hammering nails into boards to cover the door with and I'm proud that they work so fast. I'm confident that they should be okay with three of them. Even Kyo will know if he needs to leave Die behind that he should. I left Chloe for a reason. He'll protect her to his dying breath, no matter the cost. Maybe it sounds cruel, to provide him a reason to leave Die behind if the need arises. But we can't lose two. Though deep down inside, I know that honestly... we'll eventually lose two if Die doesn't make it anyway. I know how Kyo operates and I understand beyond a shadow of a doubt that he'll throw himself into every battle with reckless abandon until he's infected or dead. But such has become life.

My thoughts continue to drift over those we have left behind as we make our run for Tokyo. Again, we cross the barricades and rush through the streets, heading toward the closest pharmacy we can think of. It's three hours until nightfall and I know we'll be going back in the darkness. Dangerous territory, but I refuse to leave them longer than we have to. Besides, it's more dangerous inside Tokyo city.

We encounter a few zombies and have to strike them down. But the real fun begins once we're inside the store we came to the city for. I go to get the antibiotics, dumping shelves of the shit into my bag along with a few other things that seem necessary, like ace bandages for sprains and pain killers. Everyone else gets whatever food they can off the shelves, filling their bags to bursting. I grab a few things of cough drops and two bottles of syrup before I start filling up my bag with more food. I round the corner to find a shotgun in my face, Shinya's cousin's boyfriend pointing it at me. He loads the chamber and tells me to drop the bag and back up, that he's got to do this and I need to understand.

I don't even hesitate; I just lift my 9mm and put one in his head. He drops and the girlfriend shrieks. Shinya lifts his baseball bat and swings, knocking the girl away from Toshiya, the knife she'd been holding falling uselessly to the floor. She crumples and doesn't move. He's deadly with that thing and for that I'm thankful and I'm certain Toshiya is as well. He stares at her coldly and then mutters, "I think we should stop letting people in our group." Toshiya mutters an affirmative and I bob my head. "Agreed."

Picking back up my sack, I sling it onto my front and head toward the counter. "Let's see if there's a gun under here... shall we?" I find a handgun duct-taped under the counter and three packs of bullets in the safe someone else has already broken open and taken all the money from. I hand those over to Toshiya and he loads the gun, puts it in his waistband and puts the extra bullets in his bag except a handful in each pocket. Toshiya and Shinya take the extra packs from the cousin and her boyfriend, making sure they have good supplies and we put what we can into our pockets as well before we're out, running down the streets back toward the barricade.

Just outside the roadblocks we hit our first problem, a bunch of lingering zombies, milling aimlessly in the dip of the road just beyond the area. Toshiya comments quietly that he wishes we had hand grenades. I couldn't agree more and it's then that I realize we should probably check the police for whatever we can get. Going back, Shinya takes watch and Toshiya and I rummage through the police items. We find more bullets and a few more guns, some road spikes, and a crowbar that I hand over to Shinya. We should all have a few weapons and like this it gives us all at least two. We leave the road spikes, finding them useless and we pull the cigarettes from the corpses, taking their lighters as well. Commodities, I suppose, but I do it because what else is there? We can't get drunk or we could lose our lives over being too inebriated to know what to do. Even Shinya accepts the cigarettes when they're offered, stowing them away in a pocket with a grim look.

After a few minutes we decide there are ten zombies and three of us. We can pick them off before they get over here if Shinya uses a gun as well. We load an extra and hand it over and he pushes his bat into the holster he's created for it from an over-the-shoulder beach umbrella holder. We quietly decide which zombies are ours so we don't hit the same one and waste time. A moment later, we're firing. Three shots and three zombies go down. Three more shots and two go down, one shot missing. There's a cuss from Toshiya and I know it was him that missed. I take his out and find my next target, getting it as well. The remaining three are almost on us and we're backing up. Shinya blasts another one and then rips out his bat, smacking another down with it, a sickening crunch of its skull crushing telling us it's dead. I take out the last one at almost point blank range with the gun and narrowly avoid splashing Toshiya in the face with the thing's brains.

He lets out a scared sound and stands there, shaking slightly. "Oh god... oh god," he lets out, tears forming in his eyes. I grab him and quickly inspect him for anything. I don't see any blood or brains on him. "You're clean, Totchi... it's fine." He grabs hold of me and I can tell he's starting to panic. My hand slaps him across the face. "Stop it! You're fine!"

"Guys... we've gotta go. Company's coming." Shinya's voice seems to get through to both of us and we glance back toward the barricade. Great... just great. About thirty of the damn undead are moving toward us from the streets. I grab Toshiya's arm and book it after Shinya who's already running. After a few stumbling steps, we're on our way and making as good of time as we can with two backpacks per person.

We lead them away from the house with Kyo, Die, and Chloe in it, drawing them toward a house we don't know about at all, bolting through the thing and slipping out the back, making our panicked way away from the mass. Almost an hour later we've lost them, but the sun is setting. I give Toshiya an antiseptic wipe for his face and hands and we all share a candy bar, Toshiya going last. It's precaution. He's so scared about it that I know tonight we'll have to lock him in a separate room and it breaks my heart. But this is what life has come to.

It's dark by the time we get back and I tap on the door a few times before the door opens and I have a gun in my face. Kyo's standing there, looking stressed out and tired. We all file in and we put the boards back up after the door is closed. Immediately I take the pills and a bottle of water to Die. He looks worse than when we left, lying in the bed in what looks to be the guest room, curled under blankets, sweating something awful. His color is sickly and even Chloe looks scared for him. I make him sit up and take the antibiotics, the card saying when he has to take the others. He takes that and I give him a Vicodin to cut the pain and then some cough syrup. With that done, I give him his bag of food and tell him to eat something.

Heading out, I hand Kyo one of the other packs that's filled with food and then I go about distributing the meds from my bag. We divvy up everything appropriately so everyone has the same things and even if we're all separated we'll all survive at least a while on what we've got. Everyone settles in to eat and I start playing with the radio I have, listening carefully. It's all dead air except the two stations that turned on the emergency broadcast signal before they went down. I toss it aside as the batteries die and shake my head. We're all gonna die. _This_ is the unwavering fact of tomorrow.


	4. Nobody's Hell Like Mine (Toshiya's Chapter)

**~Marmalade Chainsaw~**

All night I've been locked in the master bedroom, all alone. I can hear the others walking around, the faint sound of talking upon occasion and more than once the footsteps that stop outside my door and wait before leaving again minutes later. I'm locked in here because we all fear I've been infected. Well... Die, Kyo, and Chloe don't know I don't think. But Kaoru and Shinya do. It's crushing me, knowing that I might become one of the undead in a matter of hours.

The splash of the blood and brains from the infected man may or may not have gotten in my eyes or mouth. I'm not sure... the others aren't sure. They gave me a can of soup, a spoon, and my gun with one bullet in it. It's a decision that I'm left to make and I know it's not meant to be an offer of death, but rather an escape if I feel myself start to turn.

The last person who became infected and turned in our presence was George and watching him go through it was terrible for us all. There was only one room and we had to tie him up in the corner and pray he didn't change. But he did and when he fully had, Kaoru was the one who pulled the trigger. It forced the rest of us to realize how real this threat was even to our careful little group. We started in more diligently; using antibacterial hand sanitizer and the wet wipes, washing in the same way Kyo and Die already had been for a while, lots of other things as well. We really should be wearing goggles, but none of us have any and we haven't found any yet.

I finish my soup and put the spoon in it, placing it aside and leaning back against the wall. I refuse to sit on the bed so I'm down here on the cold floor, a single blanket wrapped around me. The tears keep coming and I don't want to infect the bed if I'm really going to turn into a zombie. Another wave comes on and I scrunch up in a ball and sob into the blanket. I'm terrified. I don't want to die and for the first time in all of this, I truly feel like I'm going to. This is worse than the first few days because I'm convinced I'm actually going to die this time. It's not a maybe. To me it's almost positive.

Somewhere in the midst of my panic, I pick up the gun and hold it against the side of my head, cocking the gun. A low whine comes from my throat and I close my eyes, my finger hovering over the trigger, but not on it yet. Is this what I want? Can I do this? Will the gods forgive me?

There's a knock on the door and I slowly lower the gun, staring at the door with wide eyes.

"Totchi?" It's Die's voice. He sounds hoarse and tired, but he's there.

"What?" I all but whisper, lowering the gun to my lap and uncocking it.

"How are you feeling?" The sound of his voice is like some kind of sweet agony to my brain and I let out a little sob. I guess he does know after all. "I'm scared, Die... terrified." I can hear him slide down the door to sit on the floor. "Yeah... me, too. I'm not feeling any better yet."

I let out a quiet sigh and put the gun down between my legs, leaning my head back against the wall. "It's just some kind of lung infection, Die... you'll be fine." I hear a scratching sound and then there's two pills under the edge of the door being pushed by a cardboard piece. "Take those. Who knows... it might help."

I give the door a funny look and pick them up, looking at the inscription, which clearly says Vicodin. The urge to laugh bubbles up inside me and I shake my head. Such a silly man Die is sometimes. But then again, I suppose it'll knock me out and I won't have to keep on worrying. I'll wake up okay, dying, or a zombie. I grab my water and take both of them, not even hesitating. It's pointless to hesitate. This is gonna suck one way or another and it may as well suck less.

We talk for a while longer before he starts another coughing fit and has to get up. I can hear him puking in the bathroom a few minutes later and my heart goes out to him. Being sick while running from zombies just does not seem pleasant.

Sighing, I curl up on my side and close my eyes, letting the lights go out in my mind.

When I wake up again it's around midday and someone's knocking on my door. Groggily, I sit up and I hear Kaoru hiss out, "I swear to god, if you ODed him on Vicodin, I will hurt you." Die's indignant voice responds, "You can't OD on two. What if he's already a zombie?" There's a sharp smack and Die speaks up again. "K-Kaoru?" His voice sounds like he's about to cry before two sets of footsteps leave and there's another knock on my door. "Toshiya, open the mother-fuckin' door." It's Kaoru still.

Hesitantly, I reach up and undo the lock, pulling the door open. I peer up at Kaoru groggily and he stares at me like he's found his best friend. "How are you?"

I try to wake up enough to take a general assessment of myself. I feel fine other than my head's a little foggy and I have to piss like a racehorse. "I have to pee," I inform him, having no other thing of real necessity to tell him. He laughs softly and holds out his hand. "It's been eighteen hours. Come out and use the bathroom, get some more food and um... we'll talk to you through the door, okay?"

Giving a slight nod, I get to my feet and toddle off toward the bathroom, Kaoru following me. I don't miss that his hand is on his gun the entire way. I use the bathroom, being very very careful to not miss the toilet or dribble at all before I flush and then close the lid. He turns on the faucet and I wash my hands. With that done, we go to the front and I'm given a sandwich with some canned ham on it. I accept that and some powdered milk mixed into water. It tastes gross, but it's good for us, so we drink it.

With my food, I go back into the bedroom and close the door, locking it and sitting down again. Kaoru sits on the other side, eating his share of the food.

After a while, I murmur, "You should apologize to Die. He'd never give me enough to OD unless I asked him to. He just knew I was suffering and gave me enough to knock me out." There's a sigh from the other side of the door and Kaoru mutters that he knows. We finish eating in silence and I curl back up in the blanket, waiting on twenty-four hours to go by. Outside, the light starts to fade and somewhere in the distance we hear an explosion. Kaoru's on his feet and gone in a matter of seconds. I can hear him talking to the others after the door to the porch closes again, but I can't make out what exactly he's saying.

After a while, he comes back and gently knocks on the door before starting to talk to me. He explains it was to the north and quite a ways away, but it looks like it's burning pretty heavily. I let him know I heard him and he wanders off again.

Silently, I slip into my own thoughts, allowing myself to think on how we managed to slip off to make love the other night. We've been together for almost five years now, but we've hidden it from everyone around us. No one knows or even suspects... though the other night may have been a mistake if we're still looking not to be found out. But somehow I don't think that is on our list of priorities right now. I know it isn't on mine.

The hours slip past and finally there comes a tentative knock on the door and it's Kyo's voice. "Toshiya? For the love of god, tell me you're still you."

I let out a quiet little laugh. "Yeah."

"It's been twenty-seven hours. Are you feeling sick at all?" He sounds almost afraid of the answer.

"No."

A breathy little laugh comes out of him and he jiggles the doorknob. "Get the fuck out here then." I get up and open the door and immediately his arms are around me. I return the hug, looking up to see everyone else crowded around off to the side. Kyo lets go and each one of them hugs me in turn, except Chloe, who has attached herself to Kyo's side and isn't letting go anytime soon.

We all head off to the living room and settle down to share a tiny bag of Cool Ranch Doritos and a can of soda. It's a few minutes before I glance at Kyo. "Drew the short straw?"

He ducks his head and then shakes it. "No... Kaoru did. I took it from him." I look up at Kaoru and he gives me this pitiful look, but I just smile at him. "Thank you, Kyo."

So this is life... it's a highly praised serial horror show.


	5. Death Trap (Shinya's Chapter)

**~Zan~**

It's been thirty four days since the zombie apocalypse started and thirty three since I listened on the phone as my girlfriend was ripped to shreds. I've become nothing short of a callous asshole in the short span of time since then. These fuckers ate my girlfriend and I'll be damned if I'm not thinking about that every single time I swing the bat. Maybe that's why I chose such a close-range weapon. Maybe that's why I don't hesitate; I just kill like it's perfectly acceptable. Then again, I guess when your life is on the line, it _is_ perfectly acceptable.

Our life has been pretty simple since we got meds for Die and he's been getting stronger every day. We haven't lost anyone else and we have enough food to last us for quite a long time. Rather than move around again, we've been staying in the house we left Kyo, Die, and Chloe that day when we went into Tokyo. No zombies have come even remotely near the house in days and we're not doing anything to draw them to us. We have one window we crack to smoke and that's about it. The water still hasn't shut off and we're not really sure why, but we're thankful for it, refilling bottles and whatever we find in the house to fill with water we can drink, just in case. We even got brave enough to take showers and wash our clothing out a few days ago so now we don't reek of death and decay.

I think my only complaint is really that sometimes during the night, I can hear the others going at it after they're sure Chloe is asleep in the bedroom that obviously used to be a child's room. They've paired off and left me feeling like there's nothing left. But I'd never tell them that, never let on that I even know, much less that it bothers me. After all, I'm not an asshole. Any day could be our last and I'm not about to begrudge them a little action under the circumstances.

Two days ago I could have sworn I heard something creeping about outside, but when I went to see, there was nothing there. Part of me is afraid the zombies have mutated somehow to find their food sources easier. But another part tells me they couldn't alter themselves genetically like that. They're dead, not living flesh. I told the others, just wanting to have everyone on the same page and we boarded up the house a little better using the planks from a bookcase.

It's about three in the afternoon and I'm halfway through _One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest_ when there's a huge bang and then the house starts to shake. Fear lights my eyes and the book drops to the floor. There's no way that was what I think it was. Scrambling to the window, I peer out the little peephole we've made to look out toward Tokyo. Black smoke and angry fire curls up from the city from about everywhere I can see.

I can hear someone tearing at the planks on the door, making a hole to get out. I turn around and come to help, right beside Die, both of us using the two hammers in the house to pry out nails. Once there's a hole we'll fit through, he reaches to unlock the door and push it open. Sunlight floods in and we both scramble out, guns drawn and fear written on our faces.

Something zooms by overhead and I look up to see a jet swoop in over the city, a few bombs dropping. Horror slinks along my skin and with the way Die grabs my arm, I know he's having the same feeling as me. "Oh god," I whisper out. I know I should be thankful for what is probably going to save what's left of us, but I can't help but think that there's something ungodly wrong about this whole scene and I wonder if anyone else thought about it before acting.

Three more jets swoop past; letting out more bombs once they're over the city. They're going to burn it to the ground. In a way it makes sense. They're creating a death trap for the zombies. No place to hide makes them open targets and open targets can be taken care of from the air where they can't get to the people helping us. But it also means we could be mistaken for a target and that terrifies the hell out of me.

Another hand touches my side and I look to find Kyo beside me and everyone else crowded just behind. "What if they drop one here?"

I shake my head and whisper, "We'll all die. But maybe we won't feel it."

Another batch of bombs fall into the heart of Tokyo and then the jets are leaving, speeding back off the way they came, making tight turns to come back.

The sound of static comes from behind us and Kaoru curses, banging on the side of the radio he's holding. He obviously found some batteries to try with. The channel changes to one of the ones that had the emergency broadcast up and there's someone chattering in what seems to be Russian on it. Kyo turns his head a listens, a concentrated look on his face. "Allies... worldwide..." he's muttering off what he can understand, "militia... burn... burn..." he shakes his head, "I can't get the last part. It's just repeating itself over and over. Something about a shelter."

Die perks a little. "Bomb shelter?"

Kyo shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe. It'd make sense."

We all look back at the city, expecting hordes of flaming zombies. But I see nothing leaving the city at all. I turn in a slow circle, still finding nothing.

An eerie feeling fills me and I try to think. There are only a handful of bomb shelters in Tokyo and the surrounding areas and it terrifies me to think that we're not near any of them. All we can do is pray.

I turn around and head back to the house. "We have to tough it out."

With that, the decision is made. Six in number, we head back into the house that has protected us this long, a prayer in our hearts that we'll be spared.

With heavy hearts we board up the door once more. This is the unwavering fact of tomorrow.


	6. Reconstruction (Kyo's Chapter)

**~DRAIN AWAY -NEO TOKYO TRANS-~**

It's been about eight months since we started running. I'm surprised our little group is still as one, but then we always have been and we always said there was nothing in this world that could tear us apart. I suppose we were more right than we thought we were in that respect. Maybe we didn't even understand what we were talking about until now. But that doesn't really matter. Not much of anything that used to does anymore.

What's left of humanity has come to work together or against one another, depending on the group. Sometimes we run into friendly groups of people, people with whom we trade information and wares. But sometimes we run into those who only want to steal and kill. Inside I know the fear is what has killed most of them, killed their hearts and their humanity. I'd feel pity, but it is not my way. Out of everyone, I've been the one to hesitate least when it comes to saving us and killing another in the process. It is how life has ended up and I cannot change it. Instead I deal with it and try not to become one of the loathed.

Every once in a while, we'll find a patch of area that the zombies have still got a hold on and we'll do our part in trying to take it back. We know that they are our predator, but now we are theirs as well. Long ago we left Tokyo, making our way slowly to Kyoto, to my hometown. I found exactly what I'd thought I would with my parents and the rest of my family. Mostly we've worked on cleaning up the most protectable areas and burying the dead.

In a way it feels like genocide, the mass graves and the unwavering chill in the bones. But there is only so much space available and we do what we can, how we can.

Our home base is my parent's old house. If we get separated, we go back there and if someone falls ill, we go there to let them heal. Our stockpiles of canned foods, wipes, and medical supplies are inside, behind enough booby traps to kill anyone who doesn't know about them all. We're careful and that's what counts.

Two months ago, a group of people convinced in saving humanity found the water plants in different sectors, taking them and holding them as their own. Among their ranks, they had a few people who knew enough to turn everything back on and give us such a necessary resource. The defenses they have are vast and sometimes I think maybe part of them were once yakuza. But I haven't dared to comment because it's given us an easier life. Who are we to go against something done in necessity?

I look back on the bombs dropping on Tokyo and I think of the weeks we spent holed up in that house in pure fear to even leave. As it turned out, the zombies had spread to every other country in the world and after a while, the remaining officials in the government had been overthrown by rogue groups determined to do something about the zombies regardless of the 'live' casualty rate. In the end - I at least - am thankful for what was done. We wouldn't have stood a chance, but now we can regrow from the dirt. Society will never be the same, but at least humanity is still here.

We are nomads, roaming to find what we need and banding together to save it for ourselves. A regression, but one we can eventually pull out of and move forward from. It won't go back to the way things were, of that I'm certain. But in a way, I know this way is perhaps where we were meant to go in the first place. Everything for a reason and all that.

Last night I heard the cries of a newborn baby... and last night, I rejoiced.

We will survive. We will crawl our way back to the top. And for once, I realize... it is _this_ that is the unwavering fact of tomorrow.

We are the Japanese Zombie Heroez.

**The End**  



	7. Artwork done by reapertownusa

[Art for the fic](http://reapertownusa.livejournal.com/17977.html#cutid1) by the amazing [](http://reapertownusa.livejournal.com/profile)[**reapertownusa**](http://reapertownusa.livejournal.com/)


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